Separating beauties from beasts

Nail Art Tutorial: Frankenstein’s Monster Nails

Today I am really excited to show you some more Hallowe’en nail art: Frankenstein’s Monster Nails!

I wore them for 4 days straight. Unfortunately, during that time, the sun only came out once, but I was busy and couldn’t take photos, so I only have flash and natural-light photos to show you. Hope you don’t mind!

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is my favourite novel of all time. I love the author’s way of writing in such a descriptive and flowery way – it helps me visualize everything like I’m watching a movie.

Back in 1818, people sure knew how to craft sentences and make them sound so poetic. And I admire how they flossed an impressive vocabulary!

If you haven’t read the original text, I highly recommend you do. It’s so much more than just the Hallowe’en character that a lot of people have identified it with.

The first time I read Frankenstein was in university for a humanities class. It was the biggest surprise. I thought it was going to be boring and cliche. It wasn’t! And I had trouble putting the book down. I literally read it in 2 days…on the bus, the subway, in my bed… (Sigh, I so need to re-read it.)

There’s deep philosophy and a myriad of allusions to other famous literature.

I really empathized with the monster more than with Frankenstein. The nameless monster was actually really intelligent and even taught himself how to read! He desperately wanted to be loved and to feel a sense of belonging, especially after he was harshly denied all ties to the only familial bond he knew. I could understand why he ended up lashing out.

Flash – Okay, I wanted an excuse to show you my small Frankenstein’s Monster candle luminary! I think it’s so adorable! I have the large one, too. They’re both from Bath & Body Works.

Flash

Flash

Flash

This is an excerpt from the novel. It’s when Dr. Frankenstein is wandering the streets aimlessly early in the morning. He leaves his apartment to avoid the monster and regrets creating it. Hope you won’t storm out of your home and regret recreating this nail art if you choose to try it. :P

This is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley by R. Rothwell (1841). Pictures of people were so creepy back then!

You don’t need this exact shade of green. Any light green will do and the character will still be recognizable. I just really enjoyed the formula of Nicole by OPI Daffy Dill.

Make sure you wait a good 10 minutes to let this dry a bit before you continue.

2 coats of Nicole by OPI Daffy Dill

Step 3: Add the Emo Hair

Using your nail-art striper or brush dipped in black polish, outline the top curve of your nail near the cuticle. Then, randomly create pieces of hair falling down onto the forehead. I think it looks best when each nail is different because not all monsters are created equally, right?

Step 4: Start the Eyes

Apply some white nail polish to your piece of foil. Dip your dotting tool into it and apply 2 dots per nail. Don’t worry if they’re not perfectly centred. Remember, these are your monsters. They can look any way you want. And don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Step 5: Add a Mouth

Using your nail-art striper or brush dipped in black polish, add a line for each mouth. Here, I was trying to make all the lines go at different angles, but it turned out that just my middle finger’s nail had the most dramatic angle. And I’m okay with that.

Step 6: Add Stitches

To make the stitches, simply add a few vertical lines over the mouth you just created.

Frankenstein Nail Art Step 5

Step 7: Add Pupils

Add some black polish onto your piece of foil, and dip your dotting tool in it. Add 2 pupils per nail. You could add them more in the middle like I did, but feel free to make them wackier.

I hear that monsters like to look around and not just straight ahead. But I didn’t get their memo when I was doing this. It would be really cute if you made them so they were looking at each other.

Make sure that you wait 15 minutes or longer before continuing to the next step. If you don’t, you run the high risk of smearing your design.

30 thoughts on “Nail Art Tutorial: Frankenstein’s Monster Nails”

This design looks really cute! I think I will try them out but then with a different color than green maybe um pink? Let’s pretend he fell into pink paint or something :p
As for novels I just (trying) started to read novels in English like Jane Austen and that already blew my mind. I like her writing style a lot but if you’re aren’t an English native speaker it can be difficult. Otherwise I like to read those Harlequin Bouquet novels that you can find everywhere – they read fast and are usually ( too) easy to follow .

Pink is a very cool twist on this design! Hehe, I’m giggling thinking about Frankenstein’s Monster falling into pink paint.

You know, I’ve never read a single Harlequin book to this day. And as for Jane Austen, the only book she’s written that I’ve read so far was Emma and it was in university. I’ve been meaning to read Pride and Prejudice.

What a coincidence!! I did the same nail art earlier today! I also added a rhinestone on each side of his face (his head screw lol). Thanks for shedding some light on it’s history. I always thought the monster was named Frankenstein but now I know he’s actually nameless and frank was it’s creator!

Nice! I like how you chose to add the rhinestone for the bolt! Great idea!

No problem. It’s my favourite novel, so I couldn’t write this post without talking about it…hehe! Yeah, the poor guy was just called “Monster” or “Creature”. If you ever get a chance, you should totally read the book. You’ll really feel for the monster. (I’m might re-read it before Hallowe’en. It’s been far too long since I last read it.)

Thank you for breaking the silence! *Bangs cymbals and hits all the pots and pans*

I really love hearing what my visitors think, so please feel free to leave a comment again even if it’s to disagree with something I’ve written. It’s fun getting to know you and finding out what you like and what you don’t like.

So happy to hear that you enjoyed this nail-art design. I was ecstatic to wear him on my nails!

Yay – a fellow Mary Shelley reader! Hehe, I’m such a nerd. Whenever I find out that someone read Frankenstein and enjoyed it, I get all giddy. It’s as though I’ve discovered another member of some secret circle that I’m a part of.

I actually saw a similar design of Frankie’s monster over at tumblr and decided to tweak it a little. My end design looks very similar to yours! Great minds think alike, I always say. I already have my Halloween nails all done in a post and ready to go but I still need to finish my October birthday nails set before I can show them. Also, I think you did a better job of it. Carmela recently posted: Truckload Tuesdays: Drugstore (and more) Roundup from Across the Border

I love this idea, both because of Halloween and the novel! Frankenstein is one of the only “horror” stories I really like, because it is just classic. I always felt bad for the “monster” too. My copy of the book includes an introduction that describes how Mary Shelley initially came up with the idea and wrote the story, and I found that very interesting as well. On the subject of the nails, they are really cute! It seems to me like the lime green from the Shrek collection would also work well for the background.

The version I have is by Broadview Literary Texts (the one edited by D.L. MacDonald and Kathleen Scherf). It also includes a lengthy introduction on the education of Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, and the evolution of the novel. There’s tons of background information and a chronology of Mary Shelley’s life.

What I really love about this edition is that there are tons of footnotes that help you get more out of the reading and see the allusions to other classic literature. This was the book that I also got the picture of Mary Shelly from.

Now going back to nails. Hehe! Yes, I agree – OPI Who the Shrek Are You? would also be a fantastic choice for the background!

I’m always glad to show how I did something step-by-step…unless it’s just nail stamping by itself, then I’ll just show photos of the finished look. I like for people to be able to replicate it, and sometimes when you see that it just takes a few small steps, you’re more inclined to try a new design.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is my favourite book to date (and the only book I’ve read more than twice)… I too empathized with the Creature more than with Frankenstein. I read this book in English Lit in university and even wrote some psychology papers on it (nature versus nurture stuff).

I love how these turned out, and how the Creatures wanted photos with everyone around line em up, lets take a photo

I want to try one of these on an accent nail for Halloween… we shall see if I get around to it

Haha, y’know, this was what I was wearing when I met mellinail (Mary from My Numerous Diversions). There was one woman who asked me if it was crackle! Hahahaha! I wish they’d create a crackle polish that shatters into nail art – I’d buy it like there’s no tomorrow.

Oh, if you try this on an accent nail, I MUST see how it turns out! I LOVE your nails so much! x 10748794

Wow so many cool designs for halloween that iam finding out there but i really like this one since i am a fan of frankenstein not to mention you have set this out really well i mean comon the step by step guide is so helpfull thx alot for posting this i love it.Gemma recently posted: Frankenstein Bride Costume Jewellery